Can the colour scheme of your web design really improve your conversion rate just that quickly? Surely there must be something more complicated about the process. After all, the modern consumer is a complex creature. If you are not seeing the sales, that means it is time to restructure something in your marketing funnel and start thinking about how colours affect conversion rate on your website. Perhaps your sales team needs a bit of a shakeup. Philosophies must change and heads must roll!
Nope, sometimes it really just is your colour layout. Let’s take a look at some of the most important and insightful data science that’s behind that statement.
Colour and Conversion
85% of shoppers say that they purchase products primarily because of colour. Yes, colour. Not product history, not reputation, not the ingredient list – colour. 66% of people will not buy an appliance unless it is a certain colour. Colour was also shown to increase brand recognition by as much as 80%.
We are a hugely visual species. 90% of purchase decisions are influenced by the visuals that a marketing campaign uses. The subconscious decisions that a buyer makes on a product happen in the first 90 seconds, and most of the time, colour is a huge part of the product assessment.
Colour and Understanding Your Target Audience
Buyers who are navigating a website subconsciously pay very close attention to the colours they see. This is especially true when they do not know the product and are trying to give it context in their minds. As such, the colours that you use can have a huge effect on how your prospects subconsciously feel about your products.
In general, there are some colours to stay away from unless you are serving a very specific niche or trend (such as black matte finish on kitchen appliances, which has overtaken stainless steel as the go to texture for the modern kitchen):
Light pink – This is a gender specific colour that works only in certain situations. It can convey weakness as well, which can sometimes double backfire if your audience includes a more modern type of woman (who prefers not to seem weak).
Grey – Grey is a neutral colour that may cause people in certain cultures to overlook a product without giving it a fair shake. This is not true in all cultures, as Australians often use grey in architectural and trade services. In general, make sure to research the culture you are selling to before using an unbalanced amount of any colour in adverts.
Blue – Blue is known as a colour with calming effects that is normally used in health services. On the surface, this may seem like a good thing for other kinds of businesses. However, if you are trying to excite someone about a product, blue can have the opposing effect.
Black – Yes, we said above that black is a colour that men tend to like. This is only a certain type of man, however. If you are creating an exclusive product for a high flying niche audience, you may want to stay away from black. It is difficult to tell when black will work, so if you are looking to increase conversions, try another plan.
Brown – This colour cannot be used alone very well and should be used only to ground the other colours in your scheme. It has taken on a reputation of being boring, which is not what you want when you want people to get excited.
Using Colour Schemes to Trigger Conversions
Marketers recognize three types of buyers and three different colour schemes that trigger those audiences to convert. Let’s take a look:
1- The impulse shopper – The customer journey for these buyers is much shorter. They buy off of impulse, and they need a bit of excitement in order to choose between the products that are targeted at them. The visually powerful colours that you can use here are dark blue and orange.
2- Buyers on a budget – These are people who usually have a lot rolling around in their heads while they are shopping. They need colours that represent high productivity, stability and longevity. These colours include dark blue and deep green.
3- Traditional buyers – They don’t necessarily have to stay on a budget, and they go with the flow of the mainstream. These are trendier buyers as well, so you do not have to worry as much about communicating longevity with them. The colours that work well with this crowd is hot pink, light blue and red.
Consider the best practices above to take your conversion rate to the next level with iOnline.
